NBA titles, team by team. (win, race, Boston Celtics, Nets)

[travis t]

This to me shows in a nutshell what a tough racket it is to be an NBA GM. Twelve of 30 current teams have never won an NBA title. Eight teams have won a grand total of 1 title. So only 10 of 30 have more than one title.

The Boston Celtics have the most titles with 17. Eleven of those were during the Russell era, when they won 11 titles in 13 years. Lakers are 2nd with 16 titles. Part of this is because both of these teams go back to 1946, when the league began. (the source I use includes titles won by previous incarnations, such as the 'Minneapolis Lakers' and the Seattle Sonics, who are now the OKC Thunder).

But the NY Knicks also go back to 1946, and have only 2 titles to their name. This surprised me; I figured basketball mecca NYC would have more than that from their first 4 decades. The Knicks won titles in 1970 and 1973, during the glory days of Red Holtzman, W. Reed, W. Frazier, B. Bradley, etc.

Number of titles by team:

Boston Celtics. 17
LA Lakers........16
Chicago Bulls.....6
GS Warriors.......6
SA Spurs...........5
Miami Heat........3
Detroit Pistons...3
Philly 76ers.......3
NY Knicks .........2
Houston Rockets.2


The following teams have exactly one title (8 teams total):

Cleveland Cavs, Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks (as StL in 1958), Washington Wizards, Dallas Mavs, OKC Thunder (as Sonics in 1977), Portland Blazers, Sac Kings (as Rochester Royals in 1951).

And the following have zero titles(12 teams total):

Brooklyn Nets, Toronto Raptors, Indiana Pacers, Charlotte Bobcats, Orlando Magic, Memphis Griz, New Orleans Pelicans, Denver Nuggets, MN Timberwolves, Utah Jazz, LA Clippers, Phoenix Suns.

GSW would seem eminently poised to win at least one more title, thus moving into 3rd place. GSW can also trace lineage back to 1946 as the Philiadelphia Warriors.